Page 79 of Mistletoe and Mulled Wine at the Christmas Campervan

And their lips met, making their whole bodies light up. Their love bright and tender, and quietly passionate, between them. With senses igniting one-by-one, until Lucy felt a bit giddy. A Christmas kiss like no other.

Denise had offered for Lucy to stay over, so she could enjoy a Christmas tipple or two. And as Lucy lay in her single bed, an hour or so later, thinking what a wonderful day it had been, her phone pinged from the bedside table. She reached over, and opened the message.

Jack:

Missing you already. xx

She smiled in the dark.

Another ping. Jack:

When I feel better I want to do all sorts of things to your gorgeous body … but not tonight. Can’t promise I won’t cry out in pain rather than ecstasy, lol. xx

And she laughed out loud in the dark.

Then she messaged back simply but truly:

I love you. Merry Christmas. x

Jack’s reply was a heart emoji and two kisses. But for such a long time, he still hadn’t said those words.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Twixtmas soon arrived. Jack was back at his parents’ house after a short but lovely walk along the riverside at The Pastures in Alnwick with Lucy. His mum was still insisting that he stay with them for a while longer yet, so she could keep a close eye on him whilst he was convalescing. Honestly, he felt he’d morphed into a strange mix of his teenage self and the elderly man he might one day become (sore ribs, sore back, grouchy!). But actually, he did appreciate their support and care. And a regular supply of good home cooking was a huge bonus, he had to admit. He was feeling stronger by the day.

It was a mid-afternoon and the watery winter sun was dropping low in the sky. Jack sat quietly in the wingback chair that had once been his late grandad’s, overlooking his parents’ garden. A rose bush surprisingly still had a few last frosted pink blooms, clinging on. A red-breasted robin hopped about in the border. Night would come soon, shifting into another day. Every day that everyone took so much for granted. With that accident … Jeez, he might not have been here to see it all. He might have lost everything in that split second of impact. The reality hit him. And again, that awful, striking sense of loss for his brother. His time had come way too soon. Daniel, his big bro, who’d scarcely stepped into his adulthood.

How life could change in an instant. Ice on the road. A heart shutting down. That’s all it took, one moment. But, as he sat there, he realised too, that that’s all it took to take life by the balls and turn things around. He’d wasted time, being scared, holding back …

There was something he needed to do.

There was a knot of anxiety in the pit of Jack’s stomach. He so needed to get this right. He’d checked the contents of his rucksack – twice – before Lucy had arrived to collect him. And Matt had had his instructions too; he bloody well hoped his mate had got it right. Frustratingly, with the pain in his ribs, he was still unable to drive himself following the operation.

It was now New Year’s Eve, the sky a swirl of grey cloud matching the swirl of emotion building inside of him. He was doing the right thing, definitely. He just hoped the master plan went well. They pulled up at the grassy parking spot that he indicated, halfway up the moorland hillside. A few hardy sheep eyed the two of them as they got out of the Jeep. The breeze was fresh, but not fierce, thankfully. The view stunning across the green-and-brown patchwork of fields in the valley, and up towards the higher hills of the Cheviots with their dusting of snow in the distance. The last day of the year was pulling out all the stops for him; he was feeling hopeful.

He hoped to goodness he’d remembered the landscape of this hill correctly from his hike up here a month or so ago … the position of the sole fir tree that was all part of the plan.

‘You okay climbing up here?’ Lucy looked a little concerned. This was a bit of a hike, not particularly far, but still, for someone with broken ribs and not long out of hospital …

‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll just take it steady. No worries.’ He was resolute. He had his sturdy walking boots on. Today was the day. He couldn’t wait any longer.

They chatted on the way up the steep, stony track.

‘I went to see Ruby the other day,’ Jack spoke, sounding a little sad. ‘Dad took me down to see her at the garage. She was in a bit of a bad way, bless her.’

‘Do you think they’ll be able to fix her?’

‘Yeah, it might take a while, but she’s been moved to a specialist garage down in Gateshead, one that restores VWs. I had a good insurance plan in place, thank heavens. But it’s going to take some time to get her right. To even find the right parts.’

‘I bet that was hard, seeing her again. Like that …’

It had been. Partly to see the state his vintage campervan was in – all his hard work in renovating her having been destroyed in that instant – and also to realise what might have happened to him, a few centimetres the wrong way, a different impact … It was difficult to contemplate. Today was not the day for dwelling on the negatives, however. It was time to look forward, to look up. ‘Yeah, it was tough. But we’ll get her fixed up, back to her former glory, for sure. Lots of TLC, and a hunt for the right parts. Even Bob from the burger van is helping out. He gave me a call to see how I was getting on, has a mate that deals in vehicle parts and has loads of contacts, apparently. Yes, The Cocktail Campervan will be back soon. My gorgeous Ruby will be all sparkly and just like new.’

‘Of course she will.’

Jack paused for a breather as the path levelled out, halfway up the slope, taking in the view.

‘It’s beautiful here, isn’t it …’ Lucy gazed down over the valley, across banks of heather and gorse, down to fields of peeking-through winter-sown crops and grassy meadows where cotton-wool sheep grazed, and up again to the high hills of the Cheviots, under a sky of grey and blue broken by shafts of white-golden sunbeams.